1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to bag filter apparatus that is adapted to receive particulate laden gas and permit only clean gas to pass therethrough while the particulates thereof are retained by the filter apparatus. A complete bag filter apparatus usually comprises an assembly having a plurality of gas pervious bags depending from an apertured tube sheet, each bag being clamped to a wire frame or cage of transverse circular bands having longitudinal rods bonded thereto at their points of contact.
Inasmuch as a complete bag filter assembly may incorporate a total of from 100 to 200 bags and each bag is itself a complex assembly of interlocking elements, the removal, repair and replacement of bags may constitute a major economic factor in the long range cost of a bag filter and its operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous arrangements have been devised whereby filter bags may be secured to a tube sheet or other structure for support. In most known cases each filter bag is independently secured to a support cage by a complex arrangement of clamping rings, threaded bolts and the like shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,568,992, 3,568,415, 3,874,859, or 3,538,687. Frequently, also the structural support for an array of filter bags is accessible only from within that portion of a housing that is continuously surrounded by a quantity of dirty inlet air, thus requiring a complete shutdown of the unit before workmen may enter an essentially clean housing. Obviously, maintenance and repair of a conventional bag filter is a slow, tedious job that is usually performed under less than ideal conditions.